Objectivity has long been the goal of traditional journalism. The idea is not to take sides but to report and photograph the facts as they are seen and heard. But then comes the ethical question of what to do when a reporter or photojournalist witnesses an atrocity. Should they get involved? Some have and do. Others like Photographers without Borders simply keep photographing
It was already known on that October 7, the Hamas savages had been accompanied by photographers when they entered Israel from Gaza, but following the revelation by Honest Reporting that there were also Gaza-based photographers working for AP, CNN, Reuters, and The New York Times, along with a number of freelancers, the question of collusion was raised. How did all these photographers know what was about to happen?
It’s true that when there is breaking news, editors in newsrooms are so eager to get the visuals that they don’t always investigate the source. In the aftermath of the revelations by Honest Reporting, the organization’s website was hacked which Honest Reporting regards as a sign that it was on the right track when it asked whether it was coincidence that freelance photographers from Gaza were in on the plan.
CNN, which published material supplied by freelancer Hassan Eslaiah, who also photographed for AP, has severed its contact with him, but the question remains how did all these photographers know to get up so early on a Saturday morning?
Meanwhile the Foreign Press Association in Israel has protested that reporters on assignment in the West Bank have been harassed by soldiers and were stopped at checkpoints and barred from crossing despite the fact that they have been accredited by the Israel Government Press Office, and showed proof to that effect.
The reporters have also been threatened by Jewish residents of the area. Such incidents have taken place repeatedly, and have involved reporters and photographers working for CNN, Germany’s ARD, Austria’s ORF, the Netherlands’ NOS, and an Al Jazeera team. On the other hand, most Israeli journalists have relinquished objectivity, and refer to “our forces” rather than Israeli forces or the forces, and speak out for Israel when conducting radio and television interviews.
■ FOREIGN JOURNALISTS are pouncing on well-known figures from their respective countries who are living in Israel to tell the story of the Israel-Hamas war from their individual experiences and perspectives, and in their native tongues. Restaurateur Reena Pushkarna, who is frequently seen on Israeli television channels imparting the secrets of Indian cuisine as she speaks in her charming Hebrew, was interviewed via Zoom on Indian television speaking in her native Hindi, and dropping a phrase or two in English when she wanted to make a particular point.
Pushkarna was interviewed live by Sheetal Rajput, an Indian media entrepreneur, anchorwoman, and war correspondent. She is editor-in-chief of Sheetal Rajput Media Network that runs two live digital news channels – one in Hindi and one in English. She rose to fame in 2003 when reporting live on America’s invasion of Iraq. Before launching her own network, she worked for most of the major television networks in India.
A hard-hitting, well-informed interviewer, Rajput is also incredibly beautiful. Anyone tuning into her program without knowing what it was, might be forgiven for thinking that it was a Bollywood channel, simply because of seeing so striking a face on the screen.
Pushkarna explained that Swords of Iron is not a political war. “It’s a war of no choice – ein breira,” she said. “Israelis do not want to occupy Gaza. This is not the idea. Israelis want to keep the border safe.”
The interview was quite long, and Pushkarna proved to be a splendidly knowledgeable and effective spokeswoman for Israel, speaking with passion and covering a broad range of subjects that included hostages, the brutality of Hamas, the number of people murdered by Hamas, rockets falling on Tel Aviv, the need to run to bomb shelters and the places that don’t have them, Israel’s determination to get rid of Hamas, as well as political issues.
Israel’s public diplomacy mavens would do well to make use of her in the future.
■ REVENGE AGAINST Hamas is a natural and understandable emotion. But it must not be allowed to get to the point of incitement to act in a similar manner, because to do so would make us as inhuman as they are. One of the stars of children’s television, Meni Tzukeral, professionally known as Meni Mamtera, was videotaped at a haredi wedding in Beit Shemesh, where he and many of the guests sang a song associated with the extreme right, in which the refrain states: “May their village be burned.”
After the video went viral, Tzukeral apologized and said that this was uncharacteristic on his part, because he believes in peace. He may have been caught up in the fervor of the guests who jumped up and down waving their arms as they sang. The video showed that there were many more guests than the limit requested by Home Front Command.
Hollywood is a house divided
■ HOLLYWOOD IS a house divided. Though still top-heavy with Jewish producers, directors, actors, and behind the scenes people, the Jewish component of Hollywood is not united in its support for Israel. This is partially due to genuine differences of opinion with regard to the Gazan casualties who have been the unfortunate victims of Israel’s mission to destroy Hamas, and partially for fear of attack by Hamas supporters and other antisemites.
Although Jews were prominent among the founders of Hollywood’s film industry, and included people such as Louis B. Mayer, Harry Cohn, Sam Goldwyn, the Brothers Warner, Adolph Zukor, Carl Laemmle, and more as studio bosses, producers and directors, they functioned in an environment of antisemitism and most changed their names as did actors Al Jolson born as Asa Yoelson, John Garfield born Julius Garfinkle, Edward G. Robinson born Emanuel Goldberg, Hedy Lamar born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler, Eddie Cantor born Isidore Itzkowitz, and Lauren Bacall, a relative of Shimon Peres, born Betty Joan Perske. Come to think of it, Peres also changed his name from Szymon Perski, but for a different reason.
Today, many of the Jews in Hollywood retain their original names, but stay silent on issues concerning Israel because they don’t want to attract undue attention.
It seems that Steven Spielberg has fallen into this category. Though not afraid of owning up to his Jewish identity, and still carrying his obviously Jewish surname, the filmmaker who made Schindler’s List and Munich, and created an archive of the testimonies of Holocaust survivors, has so far failed to speak out in relation to the Hamas massacre, nor did he sign a letter of condemnation that was signed by 700 celebrities and entertainment executives.
Spielberg’s fence-sitting has puzzled and disappointed Holocaust survivors living in the US, and has prompted David Schaecter, the 94-year-old President of the Holocaust Survivors Foundation USA to write to Spielberg urging him to use his voice in speaking out against Hamas. Schaecter emphasized the urgent need for someone of Spielberg’s status to do so.
■ UKRAINE LAST week accused Russia of yet another attempt to degrade Ukrainian culture following Russian missile attacks on Odesa which targeted the Odesa National Fine Arts Museum as it was celebrating its 124th anniversary.
In addition to the continued violence that has taken so many innocent lives and destroyed so much property, what emphasizes the gravity of the attack on the museum is that it houses more than 12,000 pieces of art which were evacuated to Odesa for protection during the war.
Natalia Yemchenko, a member of the Supervisory Board of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation said, “It is very clear that Russia is doing everything it can to destroy Ukraine, including targeting our culture. This latest strike is just one more in the long list of attacks on museums and galleries that have been targeted since the full-scale invasion started on February 24, 2022. Every time this happens, it reminds us that Russia really wants to destroy Ukraine as a sovereign country, to kill us as a nation. And it’s a stark reminder why we have to win this war.”
The Museum of Civilian Voices, founded by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation, has gathered a collection of 27 stories about Ukrainians saving hundreds of thousands of valuable exhibits in the face of the war. “The sheer number of people talking about their work in preserving our unique heritage shows how important it is,” said Yemchenko. “The Russians might want to obliterate Ukraine but we will not be destroyed.”
The Museum of Civilian Voices is an oral history library recording the first-person impact of the war. It currently has more than 90,000 stories.
Its most important function is providing a cathartic forum for people to talk about their experiences. It is also building a record of the human impacts of Russia’s war against Ukraine. This will be an essential tool for lawyers prosecuting war crimes, and for historians telling the story of this war.
Similar projects are currently being conducted in Israel among survivors of Hamas brutality and the thousands of people who have been displaced from their homes.
■ BEN-GURION Day is traditionally commemorated on the Hebrew calendar date of the anniversary of the death of Israel’s founding prime minister David Ben-Gurion. This year, he will be commemorated on Sunday, November 19 in a webinar hosted by the Americans for Ben-Gurion University (A4BGU), with speakers Paula Kabalo the head of the Azrieli Center for Israel Studies at the Ben Gurion Research Institute for the Study of Israel and Zionism; and Eytan Donyets, the CEO of the Ben Gurion Heritage Institute.
Only three days later, on November 22, Americans will mark the 60th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Many aspects of the event are still shrouded in mystery.